Notes and Essays -- John Brown

  Accessibility statementSkip to main content Democracy Dies in Darkness johnbrown Politics White House Donald Trump Democracy in America Courts & Law National Security Elections Loomer’s Ukraine reversal deepens split in Trump’s ‘America First’ movement Influential MAGA blogger and former Kyiv critic Laura Loomer expects to visit the president to advocate for the U.S.-Ukraine alliance. August 3, 2026 at 5:00 a.m. EDTToday at 5:00 a.m. EDT 9 min Summary 333 Make us preferred on Google Blogger Laura Loomer has returned from a trip to Ukraine as one of MAGA’s most prominent advocates for the country in its war with Russia. (Jacob M. Langston/For The Washington Post) By Isaac Arnsdorf and Michael Birnbaum Laura Loomer, the controversial but influential pro-Trump blogger, arrived in Kyiv on July 19, with only a few meetings lined up and, in her telling, no agenda other than seeing the war-torn country for herself. Ten days later, she returned to Florida as one of MAGA’s mos...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had appealed for American air-defense missiles during a White House meeting on Tuesday. August 1, 2026 at 10:19 a.m Summary Smoke rises above residential buildings after an air attack in Kyiv on Saturday. (Eugene Kotenko/AFP/Getty Images) By David L. Stern, Kostiantyn Khudov, Serhii Korolchuk and Serhiy Morgunov, The Washington Post KYIV — Russian ballistic missiles rained down on Kyiv early Saturday, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 30, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country had run out of air defense interceptors./ Russian forces fired nearly 200 attack drones and 35 missiles, including 27 ballistic missiles, primarily at the capital, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media. “Only one ballistic missile was intercepted, simply because there are no interceptors,” Zelensky wrote. “A hell of a night,” Ukrainian Foreign Minster Andrii Sybiha wrote on X. The Russian attack occurred...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had appealed for American air-defense missiles during a White House meeting on Tuesday. August 1, 2026 at 10:19 a.m Summary Smoke rises above residential buildings after an air attack in Kyiv on Saturday. (Eugene Kotenko/AFP/Getty Images) By David L. Stern, Kostiantyn Khudov, Serhii Korolchuk and Serhiy Morgunov,  The Washington Post KYIV — Russian ballistic missiles rained down on Kyiv early Saturday, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 30, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country had run out of air defense interceptors./  Russian forces fired nearly 200 attack drones and 35 missiles, including 27 ballistic missiles, primarily at the capital, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media. “Only one ballistic missile was intercepted, simply because there are no interceptors,” Zelensky wrote. “A hell of a night,” Ukrainian Foreign Minster Andrii Sybiha wrote on X. The Russian attack occurre...

August 01, 2026 Ukraine and its supporters have invested years in trying to undo the skepticism of the country’s war effort harbored by President Trump’s MAGA movement and the president himself . President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine with President Trump during the NATO summit in Ankara last month. Doug Mill/The New York Ti mes The New York Times Aug. 1, 2026, 5:02 a.m. ET original article contains links By Anton Troianovski Ken Bensinger and Constant Méheut Anton Troianovski reported from Washington. Ken Bensinger reported from Los Angeles. Constant Méheut reported from Kyiv, Ukraine *** Ukraine rolled out the red carpet for Laura Loomer, the far-right activist who frequently speaks to President Trump . She sat down for about 40 minutes last week with President Volodymyr Zelensky, conducted the first interview with Ukraine’s new acting defense minister, dined with the country’s chief rabbi and got a tour of an animal shelter, given her affection for dogs. “They view me as an exten...